Methods and apparatus for smart handset design in surgical instruments

Abstract

An electrosurgical instrument is provided which includes a housing and an electrocautery blade supported within the housing and extending distally. The housing has a treatment portion attached and defining a chamber therein for retaining an activation circuit and a control circuit. The activation circuit is operably coupled to at least one activation element that is activatable to control the delivery of electrosurgical energy from a generator to tissue proximate the treatment portion. The control circuit includes a microprocessor to enable bidirectional communication between the electrosurgical instrument and the generator relating to usage information of the electrosurgical instrument. The usage information includes serial number of the electrosurgical instrument, instrument type, number of times the electrosurgical instrument has been activated, overall time the electrosurgical instrument has been used, operating parameters of the at least one activation element during each activation, operational status of the treatment portion during each activation, and power settings.

The invention claimed is: 
     
       1. An electrosurgical instrument, comprising:
 a housing having a treatment portion attached thereto and defining a chamber therein for retaining an activation circuit and a control circuit, the activation circuit being operably coupled to at least one activation element that is activatable to control the delivery of electrosurgical energy from a generator to tissue proximate the treatment portion, the control circuit including:
 a power circuit including a filter circuit having input and output node pairs for receiving and transmitting at least one voltage signal, wherein a voltage output signal transmitted from the filter circuit processed to provide a regulated voltage to power to the control circuit; 
 a microprocessor; 
 a receiver/transmitter module coupled to the output node pair of the filter circuit and the microprocessor to enable bidirectional communication between the electrosurgical instrument and the generator relating to usage information of the electrosurgical instrument, the usage information being selected from the group consisting of serial number of the electrosurgical instrument, instrument type, number of times the electrosurgical instrument has been activated, overall time the electrosurgical instrument has been used, operating parameters of the at least one activation element during each activation, operational status of the treatment portion during each activation, and power settings; and 
 a charging circuit including at least one first diode electrically coupled to the regulated voltage and at least one second diode electrically coupled to an energy device of the charging circuit for recharging the energy device for supplying back-up power to the control circuit during periods when the electrosurgical instrument is not activated. 
 
 
     
     
       2. The electrosurgical instrument according to  claim 1 , wherein the control circuit includes an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory, the electrically erasable programmable read-only memory is configured to store the usage information. 
     
     
       3. The electrosurgical instrument according to  claim 1 , wherein the receiver/transmitter module is configured to communicate bidirectionally with the generator in a. wireless manner via inductive coupling, the bidirectional communication includes the usage information being transmitted to the generator in real-time. 
     
     
       4. The electrosurgical instrument according to  claim 1 , wherein the receiver/transmitter module is configured to communicate bidirectionally with the generator in a wireless manner via an optical sensor, the bidirectional communication includes the usage information being transmitted to the generator in real-time. 
     
     
       5. The electrosurgical instrument according to  claim 1 , further including at least one additional activation element actuatable to cause the microprocessor to provide the usage information to the generator. 
     
     
       6. The electrosurgical instrument according to  claim 1 , wherein the power circuit includes:
 a resistor having first and second nodes, wherein the first node is electrically coupled to the generator and the second node is electrically coupled to the treatment portion, a first voltage difference is provided between the first and second nodes when electrosurgical energy flows through the resistor; 
 a bridge circuit having input and output node pairs, the input node pair being electrically coupled to the first and second nodes of the resistor and configured to receive the first voltage difference, the bridge circuit configured to rectify the first voltage difference to provide a second voltage, 
 wherein the input node pair of the filter circuit is electrically coupled to the output node pair of the bridge circuit to receive the second voltage, and the filter circuit is configured to filter the second voltage to provide a third voltage; and 
 a switched-mode power supply having input and output node pairs, the input node pair of the switched-mode power supply being electrically coupled to the output node pair of the filter circuit, the switched-inside power supply configured to receive the third voltage and provide the regulated voltage to supply power to the control circuit. 
 
     
     
       7. The electrosurgical instrument according to  claim 6 , wherein the switched-mode power supply is a buck-boost power supply. 
     
     
       8. The electrosurgical instrument according to  claim 6 , wherein the filter circuit includes at least one capacitor electrically coupled to the input node pair of the filter circuit. 
     
     
       9. A method for making an electrosurgical instrument, comprising the steps of:
 providing a housing having a treatment portion attached thereto and defining a chamber therein to retain an activation circuit and a control circuit; 
 operably coupling the activation circuit to at least one activation element that is activatable for controlling the delivery of electro surgical energy from a generator to tissue, the control circuit including:
 a power circuit including a filter circuit having input and output node pairs for receiving and transmitting at least one voltage signal, wherein a voltage output signal transmitted from the filter circuit is processed to provide a regulated voltage to power to the control circuit; 
 a microprocessor; 
 a receiver/transmitter module coupled to the output node pair of the filter circuit and the microprocessor to enable bidirectional communication between the electrosurgical instrument and the generator relating to usage information of the electrosurgical instrument, the usage information being selected from the group consisting of serial number of the electrosurgical instrument, instrument type, number of times the electrosurgical instrument has been activated, overall time the electrosurgical instrument has been used, operating parameters of the at least one activation element during each activation, operational status of the treatment portion during each activation, and power settings; and 
 a charging circuit including at least one first diode electrically coupled to the regulated voltage and at least one second diode electrically coupled to an energy device of the charging circuit for recharging the energy device for supplying back-up power to the control circuit during periods when the electrosurgical instrument is not activated. 
 
 
     
     
       10. The method as set forth in  claim 9 , further including recording and storing the usage information within the generator. 
     
     
       11. The method as set forth in  claim 9 , further including enabling bidirectional communication between the receiver/transmitter and the generator in a wireless manner, wherein the bidirectional communication includes transmitting the usage information to the generator in real-time. 
     
     
       12. The method as set forth in  claim 9 , further including: providing a the power circuit with:
 a resistor having first and second nodes, wherein the first node is electrically coupled to the generator and the second node is electrically coupled to the treatment portion, a first voltage difference is provided between the first and second nodes when electrosurgical energy flows through the resistor; 
 a bridge circuit having input and output node pairs, the input node pair being electrically coupled to the first and second nodes of the resistor for receiving the first voltage difference, the bridge circuit rectifies the first voltage difference to provide a second voltage, 
 wherein the input node pair of the filter circuit is electrically coupled to the output node pair of the bridge circuit to receive the second voltage, and the filter circuit filters the second voltage to provide a third voltage; and 
 a switched-mode power supply having input and output node pairs, the input node pair of the switched-mode power supply being electrically coupled to the output node pair of the filter circuit, the switched-mode power supply receives the third voltage and provides the regulated voltage to supply power to the control circuit.